World Cup 2018 Final pitch invaders identities revealed as they discover their punishment

Russia has opted not to make martyrs out of four Pussy Riot protesters after they upstaged Vladimir Putin with their audacious World Cup Final protest, say reports.

The four – including glamour model Nika (Veronika) Nikulshina, 21, an economics student, and Olga Kurachyova, 25, who has worked for BBC Russia – will face administrative not criminal charges for their protest against human rights abuses.

While they could be jailed for up to 15 days, they will not be sent to a Siberian hell penal colony as happened after a 2012 anti-Putin ‘punk prayer’ protest in a Moscow cathedral, according to the expected charges.

A Pussy Riot invader is dragged away by authorities(Image: REUTERS)

A more likely punishment is a fine, a ban from sporting events, and community work.

Pussy Riot tweeted: “Current situation: the 4 pussy riot members spent the whole night at the police station (note that there are no conditions to sleep, eat, take a shower etc) and are still there — going to be brought to the court. They are facing charges for administrative offenses so far.”

However, in 2012 the cathedral protest was ignored until Putin intervened demanding harsh action, it was reported at the time.

“The FIFA World Cup demonstrated really well how well Russian policemen may behave.

“But what will happen once it ends?”

They raised the plight of Ukrainian “political prisoner” Oleg Sentsov, on hunger strike in a Siberian jail after being jailed for 20 years in 2015 on what are seen by the West as political charges of terrorism.

The Pussy Riot activists demanded freedom for all “political prisoners” in Russia and a halt to “illegal” arrests at anti-government rallies.